Requisite literacy for systems thinking in practice

Martin Reynolds reflects on the idea of systems thinking literacy as essential for practice beyond academia. Drawing on postgraduate development and teaching of systems thinking in practice (STiP) qualifications, action research with STiP alumni, and the development of the Level 7 Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeship qualification, Martin highlights tensions between developing capabilities and competencies. He signals the risk of fetishising methods and methodological approaches outside the situated context of the use and user of such approaches. He advocates a robustness in STiP to include co-guarantors of resonance and relevance, in addition to traditional guarantors of reliability. Martin argues that systems literacy is not just a fixed technical ‘grammar’ but rather an ongoing conversational dynamic – continually developed through abductive reasoning through engaging multiple perspectives across disciplines. He presents a model of nurturing requisite literacy that can mediate between recovering systemic sensibilities and developing STiP capabilities. An overriding principle of a requisite systems literacy is an ongoing interplay between systemic and systematic thinking, ultimately framing systems thinking as a transdisciplinary endeavour that requires continual flexibility and adaptability to variable situations.